Chapter 662: Heir of the Mermaid Queen (2)
There was clear affection in the Mermaid Queen’s eyes as she looked at Yerim. But to me, that actually made it more unnerving. Crescent Moon must have cherished Seong Hyunjae too. Just like the Unfilial Children once told an F–rank like me that the affection of S–ranks could be violent, the affection of Transcendents wasn’t going to be all sweetness either.
“I didn’t expect you to accept and adapt so well to the one–time skill I gave you to block my illusion.”
Yerim really was amazing. She had decent discernment too, but I couldn’t afford to relax.
“It’s common for people to gain strength after experiencing a much higher–level power. But actually taking part of that power and making it your own is not easy. Even if your natural attribute lines up perfectly, it’s extremely difficult.”
…Either way, hearing Yerim get praised felt great. Yeah, my kid really is the best. Mouth, stop curling up, it’s way too obvious.
“Yet Little Droplet has been steadily absorbing my power and adjusting it to herself. To the point she can find me in the ocean almost instantly.”
“Mister helped a lot, too.”
Yerim said, a bit embarrassed.
“You are already very close to us. My people are born with the power to control water. Let go of Honey’s hand.”
“But we’re really deep down here, it might be dangerous.”
“This valley doesn’t have very high water pressure. Inside the house is even safer.”
Yerim hesitated, then let go of me. As soon as I was out of her protection, my body wobbled and—
“Whoa.”
I floated up. I drifted upward slowly until my hand brushed the ceiling. The buoyancy was pretty intense.
“Ordinary humans can’t stay here without something holding them in place. They float up and get pushed right out of the valley like that.”
“I’m not floating at all and I’m not really doing anything, though?”
“Little Droplet’s mana is letting you move naturally. Like how people on land walk, run, and breathe. That’s how proficient you’ve become in water.”
The Mermaid Queen’s mana wrapped around me and pushed me back down toward the sofa. My body still kept rocking around. I should buckle the belt…
“When we’re little, my people bob up and get carried away by the currents all the time, just like land children crawl and then learn to walk. That’s why we started building houses with ceilings and walls.”
So that’s why their house was so normal even underwater.
“Sometimes an adult drifts off too, if they fall asleep too deeply.”
The Mermaid Queen smiled faintly. Her expression looked like she was chasing a distant memory. Her people were probably all gone now, leaving only her behind.
“What happened to your world, Your Majesty?”
Yerim asked. The Mermaid Queen let out a long sigh. To be precise, the water around her mouth went slightly cloudy and quivered. Now that I thought about it, how did talking even work down here? Instead of air, was the water carrying sound somehow?
“After I gained the status of a Transcendent, I left my world. Some choose to devour their own world to grow stronger, but I had no intention of doing that. I believed one of my descendants would someday reach the rank of Transcendent.”
So at least the Mermaid Queen hadn’t personally destroyed her own world. Then why the hell was she putting other people’s worlds up as betting chips? Easier when it isn’t your own, huh.
“But without a single clansman coming to seek me out, my world ran out of time long ago.”
“But you’re a Transcendent. Couldn’t you have extended its life?”
“Only the Root possesses the power to create and sustain a world. Even the strongest Transcendent can only destroy worlds; they cannot create them.”
‘Young Chaos suddenly came to mind.’
He was protecting the world, but maybe the reason he wasn’t trying to get rid of the Root was because of that. If the creator vanished, this world would eventually disappear too.
“At best, we can patch together imitations from fragments of other worlds.”
And you can’t do that with someone else’s perfectly fine world. Yerim tilted her head.
“What even is the Root, anyway?”
“No one knows. If communication were possible, a great many things would be different, but despite possessing that much power, it has never once revealed a will of its own. That is what makes it so strange. Even a little mouse can express itself in simple ways.”
“Then isn’t it just a lump of power?”
“Even a lump of power, once it becomes large enough, tends to give birth to something.”
The Mermaid Queen pointed at the egg at Yerim’s throat.
“Spirits are also beings born from condensed elemental power. That’s why the Root is so puzzling. Nothing has changed in it for an unimaginably long time.”
Yerim toyed with the egg. The translucent, water–colored egg spun lightly in her palm.
“Um, can you tell why the spirit won’t wake up?”
“Who can say. It might simply not have enough power to hatch yet, or the spirit inside might be refusing to wake up.”
“It can refuse?”
“Of course. The higher the rank of the spirit, the pickier it is about choosing a contract partner.”
I thought of Iryn, who’d gone ahead and made a contract before Yuhyun even fully agreed. Looking at Iryn, he didn’t seem picky at all… though, Yuhyun was a special case. If his standard for partners was “someone like Yuhyun,” then without my brother around, that kid might have stayed a free spirit his whole life.
…Don’t tell me the water spirit wants a natural S–class whose nature is practically water itself. That would be bad. A shadow fell across Yerim’s face too.
“Maybe I’m just not good enough…”
“There’s no way to know. Most water spirits would welcome Little Droplet, but there are rare ones with unusually high standards.”
“Okay…”
Yerim drooped. Oh, come on.
“Yerim, in our world you’re the best, period. So it’s obviously some other reason. If it wants someone other than you, that doesn’t mean it has high standards, it means they’re low.”
When it came to handling water, there was definitely no one better than Yerim. Not in anything I could remember, for sure. Yerim smiled and nodded, but she still didn’t look fully cheered up.
“As Honey says, Little Droplet is exceptionally talented.”
“See? Even a Transcendent says so.”
“If she continues to grow smoothly like this, someday she’ll be able to aim for the status of a Transcendent herself.”
That was impressive, but I wasn’t sure it was a good thing. My opinion of Transcendents had tanked pretty hard.
“However, it will take a long time. It took me nearly a thousand years to reach the rank of Transcendent.”
“A thousand years?”
Yerim’s jaw dropped. I was a bit surprised too. That long, huh. Even an S–rank shouldn’t be able to live that long. Sure, your lifespan stretched out as you grew to SS–rank, SSS–rank, and so on, but still.
“Because I had to grow relying only on myself. In my world, I was the first one who had to make herself her own teacher. That is why I bestowed the title on Little Droplet.”
Heir of the Mermaid Queen. A small gem formed at the Mermaid Queen’s fingertips. Brimming with powerful water energy, it floated gently over to Yerim.
“This time it isn’t a one–time use.”
Yerim’s eyes shone bright blue, reflecting the jewel’s light.
“It’s a power that only someone acknowledged as my heir can accept. Of course, Little Droplet’s vessel can’t handle my power perfectly. But she’ll become stronger than she is now and grow much faster.”
Ruler of Water, myth–grade. This gem held a permanent power, not a one–use effect. A mythic–tier item that more than justified an L–rank title.
But.
“You’re going to give that as an achievement reward? Purely as a reward, no strings attached?”
Yeah, right. At my question, the Mermaid Queen looked at Yerim rather than me.
“If she accepts my power, she will naturally become my heir. It’s not just a title; it’s a definite, unbreakable connection.”
“And then what happens?”
“Think of the relationship between a master and disciple. A bit more old–fashioned and stronger than that.”
These days, students weren’t particularly afraid of their teachers, but if I thought in terms of old apprenticeships, my face twisted on its own.
“…You’ll have to do what you’re told, won’t you.”
“The compulsion is weak.”
“So it isn’t nonexistent.”
“Only until Little Droplet is fully grown. Until she becomes an independent Transcendent, she’ll be considered part of my faction.”
“Accepting something like that–”
“And she will be safe.”
…I fell silent. The Mermaid Queen’s calm voice continued.
“Because she will be my child, I’ll have the duty to protect her. If Little Droplet is in danger, I’ll be able to interfere directly, to a certain extent.”
“…”
“Even if, by some chance, Honey’s world disappears, Little Droplet will be unharmed. I’ll become her guardian and protector.”
It was an offer I couldn’t just casually refuse. Yerim would gain a protector more powerful than anyone else. And in our current situation, no less. A guardian who could stand behind her far into a future I’d never see.
“My guardian and protector is Mister.”
Yerim poked the jewel with a fingertip, looking unimpressed.
“And I’m fine taking my time getting stronger. A thousand years? I can just live slowly for about that long. No rush.”
“…But Yerim.”
“Beating Han Yuhyun does sound tempting, but it’s not really my power. Using an item once to go, ‘Oh, so this is what it feels like~’ is fine, but constantly relying on it feels kinda… cheap. And I’ve got Grandpa as a teacher too.”
Even as she said that, it wasn’t like she had zero regrets. How could she not be tempted? She’d actually experienced that power once already. Of course she’d want it.
“Girls are usually like that.”
The jewel drifted over to the pendant chain and a loop formed around it, hanging on. Clink, it swayed with the movement of the chain and tapped against the spirit egg.
“Especially strong girls act like they can do everything on their own. I was like that when I was young. I thought the whole world belonged to me, and then I became a queen.”
Even after being turned down, the Mermaid Queen’s gaze stayed gentle. Her high opinion of Yerim seemed sincere. Maybe Yerim reminded her of herself as a child. Not in looks, but in personality. The Mermaid Queen looked calmer now, probably because of her age. …Judging from that bet she made over my gender, that might not be her “real” personality though.
“Use it whenever you wish.”
“…I feel like I’ll blow it in a panic, and that kinda bothers me.”
“Yerim, let’s keep it. Okay?”
I stopped Yerim, who was clearly thinking about giving it back.
“You never know. You have to stay alive first if you want to do anything else.”
Even if you end up regretting it, you still need to be alive to regret it. It never hurt to have power saved up for emergencies. Yerim nodded, still looking uneasy.
“You might be in danger too, Mister.”
“Use it on yourself, not me. Promise. If you suddenly use it to do something like a master–disciple contract or whatever just to protect me, I’m seriously going to cry.”
“That actually sounds fine. I have handkerchiefs in my inventory.”
“Still no.”
Now I was getting nervous. The Mermaid Queen rose to her feet.
“I do genuinely wish Little Droplet well. But I’m also a Transcendent charged with protecting worlds. If you become part of my faction, you’ll have to follow our will to some extent.”
…If they protected worlds in a straightforward, proper way, I wouldn’t be this worried. The problem was they’d turned other people’s worlds into poker chips.
“The choice is Little Droplet’s. In my position, I can’t provide any help beyond what’s tied to the title. But is there anything else you need?”
“Can I take some of those jewel things outside?”
Yerim asked right away. The Mermaid Queen smiled kindly.
“They don’t hold any special power, so take as many as you like. Come along.”
The second I unbuckled, my body started drifting again. Yerim grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I felt like a big balloon.
Outside, the Mermaid Queen swam toward the forest. Trees with leaves like kelp stretched coral–like branches up toward the sky. No, toward the light high above the vast valley.
“Wooow.”
Beyond the forest lay a huge field of jewels. Glowing beads in every color were scattered everywhere.
“They’re similar to pearls. Certain types of creatures eat bioluminescent plants and animals, and when the leftover components harden inside their bodies, they come here and spit them out.”
“Mister, there’s a really huge one over there!”
There was a light–pearl about the size of a kid’s head. Yerim picked up a few of the pearls and popped them into her inventory.
“Yerim, save some room for actual items.”
“I’m only taking a little. I wanna give them to the kids as presents. It’s not harmful if they eat pearls, right?”
“Their nature is similar to magic stones. It’ll actually be good for them. Low–grade, but still.”
Gasp, in that case we should grab more. Toys you could play with and safely eat? Perfect. We took the shining pearls back to the room. The instant we teleported, there was a wet splat of water. Right, we were completely soaked…
“Hyung, you’re gonna catch a cold!”
Yuhyun hurried over with a towel. I held out a bright blue pearl to my little brother.
“Here, a present.”
A souvenir from under the sea. Yerim also handed pearls to Noah and Liette.
“Golden ones for Liette unni because she likes shiny stuff! And golden ones for Noah oppa because he sparkles!”
Every time Yerim moved, the jewel and egg at her throat flashed together. …Maybe I should hold onto that thing instead. But she might end up in danger when she’s alone, and if things got really urgent, there wouldn’t be time for me to pull it out and hand it to her.
“What’s wrong, hyung?”
“Nothing. It’s fine.”
Our break time was almost over. I rushed to wash up and had Yuhyun help me dry my clothes.
Soon the break ended, and a message window popped up in front of me.
–TL Notes–
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